GLAD and NCLR Applaud States Supporting Transgender Servicemembers

New Jersey Governor Murphy joins the governors of California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington in opposing Trump’s transgender military ban

Governor Phil Murphy announced today he will exercise every option available to allow transgender servicemembers to continue serving in the New Jersey Army National Guard. New Jersey joins California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington as the sixth state to date to officially oppose the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender military service.

Attorneys at
GLAD and NCLR, the organizations leading the legal fight to end the ban, issued
the following statements:

“Governors have
a responsibility to safeguard the strength and efficacy of their National
Guard, and to ensure residents in their state are not subject to
discrimination,” said Jennifer Levi,
Transgender Rights Project Director at GLAD. “In opposing the Trump
administration’s shameful policy, Governor Murphy along with the leaders of
five other states to date are recognizing that excluding qualified transgender
servicemembers weakens their state Guards and violates our nation’s bedrock
principles of fairness and equal protection.”

“These courageous
state leaders have seen this ban for what it is –baseless and cruel policy that
serves no purpose other than to weaken our nation’s military and harm dedicated
service members,” said Shannon Minter,
Legal Director at NCLR. “Governor Murphy and others have said loud
and clear that they refuse to discriminate against qualified individuals who
seek only to serve their state and their country.”

A
Recent Quinnipiac poll found that 70%
of Americans agree that transgender individuals who meet military
standards should be able to serve openly.

NCLR and GLAD have been
at the center of the legal challenge to the Trump administration’s transgender
military ban since filing Doe v. Trump,
on August 9, 2017, and securing the first of four preliminary injunctions that
blocked the ban from taking effect for nearly two years. In both Doe and a second case, Stockman v. Trump, NCLR and GLAD
continue to fight the discriminatory policy in the courts, pursuing a final
ruling striking the ban.